Rosewood Manor Chapter Five
In which Remigan is attacked and starts to learn magic, Remigan and Adelia deal with the aftermath of assult - TW: this chapter contains exsplicit on page sexual assualt
The next morning as the sun rose Adelia untangled herself from her wife’s arms tucking Remigan into the bed once more as she tossed but did not stir.
Adelia stretched and washed herself slowly before donning the vestments of her order.
Remigan steered and gently blinked awake “you’re leaving already?”
“I am Im sorry we didn’t have more time.”
“You’ll come back?” Remigan asked looking at her dolefully.
Adelia looked at her sadly that was not a promise she could make, in times of war against a necromancer no less, it was not a promise that Adelia wanted to make, would death keep her away she would be grateful that Remigan would never have to see her as a shambling corpse.
Instead, she said “I will try my hardest to come back to you whole.”
this was the hardest thing she had ever done Adelia was sure, taring her eyes from her wife’s pale body, the marks of their love making dotted about her round form.
She wanted to return to bed and never leave it again, that was not a thing she could do. She had made promises to the crown.
“Will you at least write to me?” Remigan asked sitting up Adelia rubbed her face and then looked down at her Wife how could she deny such a simple plea.
“I will, but I will also do this.” Adelia sat down on the bed as Remigan pulled the sheets up around her body. Looking at Adelia curiously “I will teach you, your first spell. Do not tell anyone until I have spoke with the king about finding instruction.”
Remigan’s eyes were wide and she nodded watching her wife with intent. Adelia pulled out of her pocket a small pouch of swede and opened it to reveal a fine silvery powder.
“This is crushed lilacacite,”
“Lilacacite” Remigan repeated the name of the crushed gem.
“It is a purple mineral that is mined near Rosenfiel. It is used in the amplification of magic and a small pinch no smaller than the quarter size of your pinky nail is enough to amplify this simple communication spell so that it will reach anywhere in the world.”
“Anywhere?” Remigan asked looking at the percentile shine of the pale purple powder.
Adelia nodded “take a pinch of the powder and draw your Sigle with your singers in three sharp lines, like this and think my name”
Remigan watched the movement and repeated the gesture Adelia kissed her forehead “good girl, its not much of a message, not with words anyways, but I will get a sensation a form of meaning behind it.”
Remigan nodded and closed the pouch putting it on her bedside and then tugged on Adelia sleeve.
“I will miss you” Remigan said a blush on her cheeks.
Adelia looked down at her and leaned down to capture her wife’s mouth with her own, warm breath mingled.
When they pulled back Adelia let out a groan “this is torture”
“I’m sorry.” Remigan said pulling the sheets around herself. Revealing an oblong shape on the bed and her face burned.
“last thing” Adelia said looking at the dildo on the bed, Remigan blushed remembering their first night as a married couple “You’ll want to hide that, its not something that most people have in their homes and might be seen as indecent, you can only become with child using it between two people, so feel free to use it when you think of me.”
Remigan’s face burned “Adelia!”
“The clerics will want to see it this morning so leave it out so that they know we have consummated the marriage.” Adelia said before leaning over her wife once more and kissing her like a starving woman eat food.
The kiss was hard, the two sinking into the warmth of one another a moment, before a chill went though Remigan as the hard metal pressed against her flesh.
When Adelia pulled back, she looked out the window away from Remigan telling her, “You should rest,”
“Thank you Adelia” Remigan whispered her name and Adelia brought her hand down Remigan’s face her eyes drinking in her wife’s visage on the bed.
“I will write.” Adelia promised.
When she was done Remigan sank naked into the sheets on the bed and closed her eyes knowing she would miss her wife even though they had only been married a night.
Adelia closed the door to their room finding it difficult to leave Remi in their bed, it all had felt like a dream and now she had to wake up. Her duty was to the crown, and to King Heirdhmar and Queen Aine to the country of Nasrin. She would fallow though on her promise made and kill the necromancer Cian.
Entering the great hall the king nodded to her, and she found her way towards his table bowing before him.
“How was your wedding night Sege Adelia Mae, is my cousin well?”
“It was beautiful, thank you, majesty, Remigan is well, she rests now, I would like to speak to you of her a moment if you could spare?”
“Speak your mind cousin,” said the king, she was proud that the king honoured her in such a way to call her kin and she bowed to him.
“Remigan has some fledgling magic, I have seen her talent myself, I noted it during the battle and she killed a shadow soldier, you might have not noticed because of the chaos of the evening but Remigan is the one who thought to bring down the Chandler, she also instructed Lady O’Cleirigh to start fires to kill the undead.”
“I had no idea my cousin was so skilled in battle.”
“I think she was just willing to try where many fled in fear through no fault of their own. I think it best she be trained; she would like to be part of the war effort and help in the healing tent.”
“We Need every able body we can, if she is willing and you as the head of your house are amenable to such things. I shell have a cleric train her blossoming magic and see to her training in our healing tents, it will be greatly helpful.”
“Thank you, highness, we are of an accord on the matter.” Heirdhmar nodded and dismissed Adelia as she left to find a seat among her men. The knights made room for their commander at the table, and she set to having a breakfast of thick cut meats and an oat porridge with eggs.
…
Remigan was roused by a knock at the door and after pulling on a gown over top of her necked form she called out? “You may enter” a cleric entered the room in white robes of the order and bowed their heralds with two priests behind them.
Remigan got up from the bed pulling the robe righter around herself she was aware that the priests would have to check the bed to consummate the marriage.
she looked away from them as they told her this and the cleric offered “do you need any healing my lady?”
“I am fine thank you” Remigain said with a blush the priest satisfied with what they found in the bed nodded to one another and left the room, Remigan sighed with relief a moment before looking towards the cleric who stood still in the room alone with her, she bristled a little wishing to be alone.
“Might I help you with something more” she shifted uncomfortably.
“I am sorry my lady, as a cleric of the church of the ninth of Arin, I must check that you have indeed consummated the marriage”
“you’ve seen my marital bed, what more do you wish?” Remigan asked
“It is a standard practice of making sure you have customary marking from the consummation.” Remigain eyes went wide at this she had never heard such a thing. the cleric continued talking “I have seen to many lady’s virtue, I do not mind walking you though this, I must examine your nether reign to assure the courts that you have been taken by your husband.”
Remigan blinked at him a few times unsure what to say or do with this “I think you should leave”
“My lady you do not wish people to think that you had not done your marital duty.” the cleric said moving towards her
“Get out of my rooms, the priests have declared that the marriage was consummated and I do not need to show my body to a perverted cleric. my wife would splay your spleen from your crotch if she heard you had suggested I undress in front of you.” Remigain said her face burning brightly the cleric mouth opened and closed “get out” Remigan said again
“This will not hurt at all, I assure you.” said the cleric “you protest to much my lady, surly you were not taken last night and fear that you should be found out” said the cleric advancing on her Remigain took a step back eyes wide. the cleric smiled taking her hand in his pulling her close as she struggled from his grip.
“Do not touch me” she said alarm rising in her voice, her robe falling open to reveal the soft skin of her breasts covered with love bites of her wife. the cleric eyes on them his smile as she shrugged against him.
“Do not worry my lady it will be over soon.” he instead pushing her onto the bed and claiming on top of her. her mind scattered to the four winds unsure of what was happening she pushed him away and struggled even as he moaned thrusting inside her.
“I insist you stop at once” she said tears streaking her face “my wife will surely have you killed for this” she said her mind faced to her mother, had she too felt this weight of a man pressing against her with hopelessness.
“Settle now my lady, so that I might show you the natural order of things, I shell put a child into your belly the way Besyn intended.”
Besyn the god of nature and animals, a wild god, she closed her eyes drawing a Sigle that Adelia had taught her not an hour before. and it was as if her screams and sobs echoed throw-out the castle the lilacacite burning away every spec of the fine powder and a torrent of magic seeping throw-out the halls and into the chambers of every person in the castle could feel the horridness of what was begin done. A chill swept threw the cleric than as he realized her power and he moved back away from the necked girl on the bed, as the door opened.
“What is the meaning of this?” the voice rang out as in charged no fewer then two dozen royal guards, and Ser Winston looking grave and yet all together prepared to kill a man.
Remigan pulled her robes around herself as the cleric fell to the floor and Ser Winston picked him up by the collar a fire in his eyes.
“You disgrace my family so.” he said seething venom in his voice t
up the hall Adelia’s voice barked “out of the way, this is my wife’s chamber.” and Remigan shook as a fresh wave of guilt and fear took root in her belly.
the crowed parted silence seamed to fall upon them all as an invisible set of hands clamped around Remigan’s throat and tears burned at the edges of her eyes. she didn’t want Adelia to see her like this. yet she shook pulling her shawl around her shoulders even as tears dripped from her eyes
seeing her wife in such a state Adelia looked at the man in Ser Winstons hold, his trousers around his ankles with a crowed of guards around him. The Cleric seamed to shrink before the crowed his pale form loathsome.
“You touched my wife” she said as Ser Winston looked to her as for what to do.
“I shell spay your innards from you if you have a family, they will not be able to tell your body as kin from that of a beast of which you are. do you understand me?”
the cleric choaked gasping for air and seamed to dribble pee onto the floor as a response.
“He-he said he was going to examine me, that, that he had examined other married ladies” Remigan was not altogether sure how she found her voice.
“Indeed, the lowest form of scum than, to rape unprotected woman as their husbands leave for war, I want the names”
the Cleric said nothing more looking as if he might be ill, Ser Winston dropped him to the floor.
“speak” he said to the snivelling man who rubbed at his throat gasping in breaths of air.
“Did you not hear me, I want the ladies’ names now” Adelia said she was seething the cleric for his part seamed unwilling to cooperate he would die regardless.
Adelia took her blade out and pointed it at him, someone touched her hand.
“Sege perhaps we should not execute the man on the fine carpet?”
“I would not kill him in front of my wife; this man has scandalized her enough. but we have ways of making him talk. should I pull out his tong and then heal it back into place?” Adelia said her eyes looked crazed down at him
the man shuffled back away from her as the fireplace burned his hand and he screamed in pain. just then the king entered the room, men parting for him and bowing their heads as he looked around at the mess being done.
“Sege Adelia stand down, or do I have to second guess your reasoning for searching out the necromancer and send hierophant Dragona with you to make clear that I will not have another necromancer in these lands?”
“No, your majesty, send the hierophant if you like, but I want this man dead.”
“If the lady’s claims are indeed true, we will have to find the other woman as she said, as well as inspect them, which may prove difficult as they all had their wedding night the night prior, high priest Yoland. you consummated how many marriages this morning”
“Five your highness”
“And was cleric Rowen at each consummation?”
“Yes, your highness, high priest Marcus and I went around to the chambers in question. each bed was in a state that was adequate to the consummation rites. we left Rowen with the ladies for 15-20 minutes well we were assured he would be healing and giving counsel to the newly wed.”
“Why was a lady not present, or chosen for this? why was it not considered that leaving a young man alone with a lady might be a dangerous outcome?”
“It is customary to not have to many prying eyes as it is a delicate time your highness, Rowen was chosen in this case for lack of lady clerics in the castle, most clerics are tending to the wounds of the soldiers outside from last nights attack, Rowen was who we had available.”
“And yet we all heard the screams and pleas for help, which should never have happened.”
Remigan curled into the blankets of her bed, there were so many people in the room, looking at her talking about her, was this how her mother had felt embarrassed and dejected, as if she were a thing someone could simply use and throw away.
Adelia hands found her then and she curled into the warmth of her wife’s embrace even as she was embarrassed by the eyes on them.
“I am sorry you had to endure such a scandal, I will do anything to make him pay.”
“Can we be alone?” Remigan asked Adelia to make her feel that in a crowed of people she was seen and understood. Adelia stood.
“Your majesty” Adelia cut him off “might we give my wife some privacy she has been scandalized we must look into the accounts of these other woman”
“of course you are right cousin, Knights bring the tractor to the jailcells, prises if you might escort my men to find this woman so that we might interview them.”
When the room was cleared Remigan collapsed into Adelia and began to sob big powerful sobs that she collapsed into a heap.
Adelia removed her gauntlets and stroked Remigan’s red curls to think another had touched her body sent rage threw her core. But she tempered it by holding Remigan close, and for a long time Neither spoke.
Remigan sobs cooled into a gentle stream of tears, and she relaxed into the heavy plate armor of her wife’s side, cold and strong against her body as Adelia ran strong hands across her back and tried as she might to comfort her.
a time later Adelia asked, “did he... was he inside you?”
Remigan nodded “what will we do if I.... if I am with child?”
Adelia closed her eyes “if... I made a vow to you Remigan, if you are with child, we can not tell if the child is mine or his, so I will love them, I will raise them as our own, love them as our own, I will not care, it is not a perfect idea, but I will still try, because I made vows to you, and I will not break them.”
Remigan relaxed knowing that Adelia would not turn away from her, she clung to the side of her wife, her eyes closing and breathing in the leather and musk that was particular to Adelia. Her hair was scented with an oil that Remigan could not place, and it drew Remigan in. she nuzzled into the hair and breathed deeply.
“I’m going to kil him” Adelia announced so suddenly and fiercely that Remigan looked up in fear.
Remigan grabbed her hand “please don’t go”
Adelia rubbed her face and then curled against Remigan’s side holding her close until her wife fell asleep in her arms.
…
King Heirdhmar, Queen Aine, a lady in waiting named Margarita, Hierophant Dragona and Remigan sat in a small and beautifully adorned tearoom around a small round table that was covered in blue and silver tablecloth filled with pastries and tea and saucers. Margarita was attending to the group pouring tea and serving bisects.
Remigan stomach turned sour in her gut Adelia had not left for the campaign yet, and the group waited on the high knight to return to the castle from the grounds where she was ensuring the nightly raid had been successful, and that repairs were underway.
Remigan could not bare to look at any of the high guests, Heirdhmar her cousin the king of Nasrin, if they had been a proper kingdom like that of Waterford or Adare then they might be a proper royal family, where Heirdhmar as king would have been respected for his station above all else. She would have been a proper lady, and she would have been married to her cousin to secure the bloodline. Then again, she had endured much scandal in her life, and her ill birth made even that unlikely.
the group sat somberly waiting for the final member Queen Aine smiled sadly at Remigan before her and Remigan bowed her head to the queen in deference and embarrassment, her thoughts alone could have if said aloud been seen as traitorous. certainly, Aine was a much better suit for Heirdhmar and the two made a happy couple, even if some thought Aine was a string choice in bride, she was a beautiful queen, holding herself with much grace and pose as any of the royal court.
Adelia walked into the room and bowed before the group “my apologize” she said then seeing Remigan she softened and removing her gauntlets as she was wanting to do, she moved towards her wife and took her hand in her own, kissing her hairline and smelling the curls of her hair.
if nothing else the pair was glad for the time the ordeal had given them, even if it was a scandal that felt like none should have to endure.
Remigan had endured much pain in those days after and it was only a small mercy that Adelia campaign had been delayed, she closed her eyes against it all, she had had to display herself to doctors and hiarches to her grandfather and her wife. the other lady’s who had been attacked by the cleric had come forward when pressed for details and said that he had done the same to them, had requested inspection and then had had relations with them. they each were inspected in turn.
only time would tell if she would become pregnant by the cleric, as her mother had by lord Eeffal. though several ladies of the queens and doctors had assured her it was rare that the first encounter as such would produce child. she lay in a cold empty bed having cried herself to sleep and woke with puffy eyes a servant girl had come to help her dress and be presentable to the king.
“The cleric Rowen has been investigated; three other ladies of the court have indicated to us that they were taken in by him when their husbands had left for battle preparations. in accordance with our laws, he had been striped of titles and is to be executed in the coming days.” Heirdhmar was saying.
Remigan closed her eyes against the kings’ words, two men had died because of their unbecoming nature. her father and now this man who had sullied her wedding night, Adelia swore that Remigan was still hers, but Remigan felt sullied by this man all the time.
“Thank you your majesty” Remigan said even as her mouth felt like ash and her stomach turned
“Lady Mae, I regret that this situation has arisen, as a lady of the court you are due all the respect your station is granted and yet a member of my very own clergy to know he has been regarding woman in such a way. I hope you know that the clergy do not condone such things.” Hierophant Dragona offered kindly, she had a high refined voice that was strong, they wore the tabard of the clerics over a white formalwear that clerics and healers wore standardly. Their face sagged with age, but their blue eyes shone with a youth to them still, unyielding, with curls of white hair around their face giving a heavenly look. Remigan swallowed hard looking down at her feet.
“Thank you, I know that the church of nine does not condone such actions, still he was acting in accordance with Bastyn and his own guidance. he said so himself. but it is not the fault of the church or indeed the castle, or yourself your highness, as no other can account for the actions and of every other member of their clergy and staff, and I only regret that this had delayed the soldiers by several nights.”
the king waved her off as if this was unimportant “we would not have known about the situation if not for your considerable magics. I will admit I disregarded the Sege Adelia at first when she said you had some power.”
“It is quite late for someone such as Remigan to be showing such a talent, but not all together unusual.” Adelia protested and Remigan blushed
“Truly your majesty I am unsure of the magic myself, if not for how patiently the call for aid had been I might have thought Adelia and I were both wrong and perhaps I had none at all. Yet I do not understand why now it sprang from seemingly nowhere so fiercely?”
“I am also curious” said Hierophant Dragona “I will be taking on the care of your tutelage, as Adelia can tell you herself, I am a strict but fair teacher, and we will push your magic to see where it will lead.”
“Hierophant Dragona worked among my fathers court for many years, and well they are now retired I have asked them to return for the express purposes of training you.” Heirdhmar said with a smile.
“Thank you your highness, I am humbled that you would think so highly of having me trained.”
“King Heirdhmar is only thinking of the kingdom with the growing undead scourge upon us every night, every man, woman, and able body must pitch in. There is no use being humble in times of war.”
“Yes of course, I know that the king says you retired but in times such as they are, I understand that even one such as yourself have duties to attend to and so I must thank you for coming all this way to train me.” Remigan bowed her head once
the hierophant nodded their head in recognition of her words “we will start at once, I have several tomes I require you to read, you can read my lady”
Remigan blushed “yes I rather like-”
“good” her words were cut off “I also expect you can do some arithmetic, but I will not worry if it is not much as it is less used unless you were creating new sigles which I will teach you the premise of much later but for now we will work on basic spell work, and there is less geometry and more simple memorization of key elements, motions and line work.”
the king waved his hand and dismissed them with a wave as Hierophant Dragona rose to their feet and Remigan gather her dressed about her, to fallow behind, giving a swift kiss to Adelia in parting before turning to fallow dolefully behind the Hierophant.
Remigan was left to stumbled behind. fallowing the hierophant continued to talk at length about the principles of magic and Remigan’s head began to spin.